For centuries, I have been feared and abhorred. I am the sorceress of Amber, the witch of Amber. I am power-hungry, and will do whatever is necessary to further my own ends. I will kill, lie, cheat, and steal as necessary. I will stab my own brother just to keep him from telling my other siblings of my plan to destroy Amber and remake it in an image more pleasing to my eye. I am evil and greedy. I care nothing for anyone save myself. I never have. I never will.
All of these things have been said of me. Some are true. Some are not. What is, and what is not a lie, I leave to you to decide. And while you wonder what is true and what is false, I have a question for you. What, of those things said of me, are not equally true among my siblings? Why am I singled out to be hated, when we have all done the same things as was required?
Perhaps it is the books by Corwin, in which he so...eloquently...stated his loathing of me. Perhaps it is that seeing your own faults reflected in someone else inspires hate of that person. Whatever the reason, I am no more guilty than my siblings. They may hate me all they wish, but in doing so, they hate themselves as deeply.
But how my family feels about me is of little concern to me. I have found the happiness I have spent my life searching for. I have my children, and my grandchildren of whom I can be proud. I can love them and have their love returned. I have Reid, my husband. I cannot even begin to describe the love I have for him. With this, my family, I can be happy. The rest can be damned. There are those of my siblings who have my love and my affection, and the rest make little difference to me. If they live, if they die, it is the will of the Unicorn. I will not stand in Her way to stop whatever befalls them.
Mordant, my darling... It is both his darkness and his light that make him so precious to me. He thinks of himself as cursed in many ways, never to get what he most desires. But he will find happiness someday, as I did. He will find a way to forget all those dark secrets that hold him from his happiness now. His life will be all he dreamed it will be, and I will be there to applaud him as he basks in the light of his love and his joy.
Robin, my dear granddaughter... So much change has fallen into her young life so quickly. I pity her all that she must adjust to. But she is strong, and she will survive. Her choice to love one of her own blood is unfortunate, but it is a mistake I once made as well. She will learn in time what troubles can come from making such a choice, and no doubt the lesson will hurt her greatly. But without that pain, the lesson would be less effective. Sad that it is necessary, but it is, and I will not protect her from that pain when the time comes. She will experience it as deeply as I did, and she will grow stronger from it. Regardless of her choice, she will be my jewel and I will love her unconditionally.
William, the dark prince... How he reminds me of my dearly departed brother. He has the passion of Brand, and the romantic charm that will only grow as he does. He has accepted the change from his home to Amber with less ease than Robin, and so he has become quieter, more introverted, again a trait shared by Brand. I worry that there are more similarities that I have not yet seen, but I trust that he will not make the same choices and mistakes that Brand made. He has Robin to assist him. Together, there is nothing the twins could not do, and I hope they will allow me to watch with pride as they conquer Shadow and shape it into their own liking.
Reid, my dearly beloved... For millenia, I have survived alone, without a true love. Now I find what I have missed, and I am uncertain that life without my darling husband would be worth living. He has yet to fully come to terms with the difference in our station, funny that I do not see it at all. Money means little to me, and titles even less. Hopefully, Reid will feel the same over the years. Regardless of his past, I will love him with the whole of my heart forever.
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